Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2012

Mass Shootings: Why It's So Hard to Predict Who Will Snap

As the alleged shooter in last week's Aurora, Colo., movie theater killings made his first appearance in court today (July 23), his every facial tic was scrutinized for clues as to why he might have launched his attack against theater-goers at a midnight showing of the newest Batman movie last...

Jun 30, 2012

Ancient Statues Smuggled from Nigeria to Return Home

NEW YORK — A handful of roughly 2,000-year-old figurines began a journey back home to Nigeria today (July 26) after being seized at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. At a repatriation ceremony held at Homeland Security Investigation offices on the west side of Manhattan, Nigeria's Consul General...

May 31, 2012

Mysterious Bones May Belong to John the Baptist

A small handful of bones found in an ancient church in Bulgaria may belong to John the Baptist, the biblical figure said to have baptized Jesus. There's no way to be sure, of course, as there are no confirmed pieces of John the Baptist to compare to the fragments of...

May 31, 2012

Doting Dads: 6 of History's Finest Fathers

History has its share of bad dads. Consider Russian czar Ivan the Terrible, who beat his pregnant daughter until she miscarried. When his son confronted him about it, Ivan struck the younger man's head with a staff, killing him. But this Sunday is Father's Day, so we're looking on the...

May 31, 2012

Can People Stop Being Gay?

To polarize a crowd, bring up sexual reorientation. Religious fundamentalists who believe homosexuality is a matter of choice consider it obvious that gay people can reverse their decisions. The opposite camp argues that gays are born that way, and thus that sexual reorientation therapy is ineffective, as well as cruel...

May 31, 2012

When Adults Are Victims of Tween Bullies

When a kids see other kids being bullied, current teaching advises them to speak up for the victim. But when the victim is an adult, the common response is to freeze. I think that's the next wave we're going to see, said Edie Raether, a psychotherapist and author of Stop...

May 31, 2012

Freedom of Assembly

What is freedom of assembly? Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests. The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil...

Apr 30, 2012

Could the Navy Ever Build a Flying Aircraft Carrier?

Moviegoers can easily recognize flights of fancy when they see the Avengers assemble aboard the flying Helicarrier aircraft carrier in Hollywood's latest superhero blockbuster. But could the U.S. Navy ever build the fantastical military marvel if it wanted a flying air base? The Navy has experimented with less-ambitious flying aircraft...

Apr 30, 2012

Columbus May Not Have Been First to America

An investigation worthy of a Dan Brown novel has shed new light on the voyages of John Cabot, the Italian navigator and explorer, revealing that he may have had knowledge of European expeditions to the New World that predated Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage. Although commonly credited with discovering America, Christopher...

Apr 30, 2012

Hitler Used Cocaine and Had Fart Problem, Medical Records Show

Adolf Hitler farted uncontrollably, used cocaine to clear his sinuses, ingested some 28 drugs at a time and received injections of bull testicle extracts to bolster his libido. The startling revelations come from Hiltler's medical records, now up for auction at Alexander Historical Auctions of Stamford, Conn. (full catalogues here...

Apr 30, 2012

10 Iconic Historical Hairstyles (And Why We Love Them)

Vidal Sassoon, the hairstylist credited with ushering out stiff-and-stuffy styles and bringing in short, geometric cuts, died at his home on May 9. But Sassoon's styles weren't the only ones that defined an era. Hairstyles have long been signifiers of culture, religion and values. Here are a 10 iconic styles...

Apr 30, 2012

Ancient 'Loch Ness Monster' Suffered Arthritis

Ancient creatures resembling stout-necked Loch Ness Monsters apparently developed arthritis in their monster jaws, revealing that even such lethal killers could suffer from and eventually succumb to diseases of old age, researchers find. Scientists reached that conclusion while investigating the fossil of an extinct marine reptile known as a pliosaur....

Apr 30, 2012

Political Polarization 'Dangerous,' Psychologist Says

CHICAGO - For the first time in American political history, Democrats and Republicans have sorted themselves into a perfect left-right split, a prominent political psychologist said this week, calling the result a dangerous era in U.S. politics. Traditionally, political parties have been coalitions of broad groups of people, based more...

Apr 30, 2012

Cosmic Art Glows With Fluorescent Bacteria

At an upcoming art exhibit, glowing images of heavenly objects — stars, galaxies, nebulae and remnants of supernovae — will have unusual frames: the clear rims of Petri dishes, the sort typically used to grow microbes. There's no coincidence here. The images of these astronomical structures have been created from...

Mar 31, 2012

Did Shroud of Turin Inspire Spread of Christianity?

A hoax or a miracle? The Shroud of Turin has inspired this question for centuries. Now, an art historian says this piece of cloth, said to bear the imprint of the crucified body of Jesus Christ, may be something in between. According to Thomas de Wesselow, formerly of Cambridge University,...